Governments from Thailand and Singapore have agreed to increase trade and investment through special incentive packages worth US$30 billion by 2010. The agreements were announced at the end of a two-day meeting of the Singapore and Thailand Enhanced Economic Relationship (Steer) held in Bangkok. Twelve Memorandums of Understanding were also signed at the meeting. Both governments believe that the two-fold increase in trade and investment should kick-start the creation of the Asean single market. This bilateral single-market plan would pave the way for Southeast Asian countries to eventually come together and form the Asean Economic Community (AEC). Senior officials have been asked to form a task force to explore joint ventures between Singaporean and Thai companies for investing in third countries in areas including the Pearl River delta in China and the Greater Mekong sub-region. The two countries also plan to jointly promote tourism to attract one million Chinese tourists, within a period of three years, to visit Thailand, Singapore and other Asean destinations

The Public Health Ministry has proposed a bill to prohibit the display of cigarettes in retail shops. The Cabinet will consider the proposed amendment of Article 21 of the Tobacco Act concerning cigarette displays. The amended Act is considered to be in line with the Ministry’s guidelines. The guidelines disapprove the display of cigarettes by retail shops in visible areas to attract attention, and the placement of products in specific locations requested by the tobacco manufacturer.

The Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) has announced that a new reporting rule on gold and gem deals will be put into effect as a Finance Ministry regulation next year. The new ruling would require gold and gem traders nationwide to disclose any business transactions which are more than Bt1 million with non-regular customers.  More than 6,000 gold shops and 1,000 gem traders will need to comply with the new ruling. However, this new ruling will not be required for transactions with regular clients as prior records would have been made available with the traders. Come next year, traders would have to submit information on the business transactions and identities of their new clients to AMLO through fax, post or its website. The AMLO is also pushing for another ruling which will compel pawnshops, insurance companies and stock traders to report any business dealings that seem improper. Violators of this ruling would face a maximum penalty of Bt300,000 for each failure to submit a report.

Insistence from the Prime Minister over the situation in the South has resulted in the Cabinet extending the controversial emergency decree which is due to expire on 20 October. This decree also allows the government to declare a state of emergency renewable every three months. Since the state of emergency was declared, lawmakers and civic leaders have voiced their objections over the granting of absolute powers to security officials. These powers include imposing curfews, forbidding public gatherings, keeping suspects in custody without charge for 30 days, confiscating property, and wiretapping telephones. A clause in the legislation which grants immunity to officials against civil, criminal, and disciplinary action for acts carried out under the decree’s provisions has also riled them.

The proposal by the Commerce Ministry to liberalize the Alien Business Law has unsettled the opposition as well as the public. The amendments, due to be deliberated by the Cabinet, were omitted in the Cabinet’s agenda at the last hour. The proposed move allows non-residents to do business in 20 areas of financial services without obtaining a license or any regulatory approval. These services include banking and insurance, securities sales and marketing, as well as investment banking and financial services. Currently, a special approval from the authorities is required for non-residents to work in the financial-services sector. With the removal of such special approvals, the opposition cautioned that Thai professionals in financial services risk losing the industry to the non-residents who would be able to operate the businesses entirely on their own.